Thursday, February 26, 2009

When I was a child I was scared of the dark. I still like the “lights on” when I enter a dark room – partly because I wear glasses and am sight challenged and don’t want to trip or fall on toys Sophia has lovingly spread throughout the house. She is interesting, because she has no fear of the dark when we are home – she’ll go sit in my dark closet and play with my shoes – yet while driving at night, she doesn’t like that at all.

So – this one….is scared of the dark. I need advise. We finished our basement andmade him like a very cool room for a boy. He has this huge dry erase map of the world on one wall, a red spindle bed, his keyboard, cool baseball encouragement and for Christmas he got a light turtle that stays on 45 minutes. So…..last night he told me something has bitten his ankle at night (NOT), there are monsters under his bed, and they have a machine gun they are going to shoot him with it. I told him while in our home, Dad & I will protect him and I’d throw myself in front of bullets to protect him – that is how passionate we are about keeping him safe. I reviewed that the house is locked and no one can enter without our permission. I’ve told him God is watching over him and when he awakes from a bad dream to remember Jesus is always with him. We have night lights everywhere including the bathroom he uses, hall and he can always turn the full lights on too! He’ll grab his clothes and dress in the living room to avoid being in the basement in the morning. He has an “egress escape” window that sheds natural light into his room. He often asks me to go down with him just to dress for bed and I always tuck him in. Steve and I are usually always downstairs until we go to bed – so he isn’t alone downstairs when he is falling asleep. No matter how many times I tell him he is “safe” the fear is there…from so long ago a 2 year old frightened in the dark…yanked from a bad situation that has created such deep scars...so what do we do?

To put him back in the bunks with Tobias – means the following: Giggling, not going to sleep, chatting,(yes sounds like fun and we don’t allow that in our house…..kidding OK!) and destroying “stuff” and general noise that will float over to Sophia if she is sleeping or trying to sleep. Countless reminders – GO TO SLEEP. To put Tobias in the basement – we tried that – only worked awhile and he wanted back upstairs too! So?????

I’ve shared with Anthony the following…..but still, the “fear” exists and I don’t want him to be afraid. Any wise words of advice out there?

(New International Version)Genesis 1:3-5 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.2 Samuel 22:29You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Years ago (I mean 20+) I attended business college with a gal who has become an awesome friend - at the time she was married to a man who provided her with a nice “ranch” styled home. When I’d visit her, I’d remark in my “observing” way that the entire house color scheme was “beige, neutral – brown!” I mean every room. After their marriage ended – she went on to live in other places and have “color” in her life of all sorts. (no hidden connotations meant!) Reds, blues, mauve's (yes that dates to the 80’s) and so forth – she now has sage and other wonderful hues of life colors in her home and work/hobby shop. I love her and I love the home she has made. She is a special friend – whom only special friends can “tease” in that way which takes us down memory lane.

When I drive around, the most common color of houses in Kansas – is BROWN, neutrals, taupe (if you want to call it a fancier version of BROWN!). In winter the landscape is usually BROWN (I refer to it as Texas tan!).

Where am I going with this? Well, if you see the picture of my “neutral” family below – yes she was there when our blessed baby was dedicated and quick to point out I dressed my entire family in “browns!” Too funny. She doesn’t’ let me forget!

Now I’m the one living in a ranch house with the “all” white walls……in my defense, my bedroom is red, guest room is pale yellow, A’s room is ocean blue, T’s room is white because he has so many other fun colors going, S’s room is Scandinavian ice with pinks, greens, etc…….so to my dear friend reading this…..I’m not a neutral person – neither are you! Yes, my rec room is “neutral beige's!” But it still rocks!

Yes, God made browns, neutrals and beige's too! Makes me think of the children's song "Red and Yellow, Brown and White, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world!" By the way, I love you too!

1 Chronicles 29:2 With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Today in church Sophia was dedicated ~ child dedication means we dedicate ourselves to bringing her up in a Christian home, the congregation responds with a reading lending their support to her as an extended family in her life as well. We shared an imovie to John McCutcheon's Happy Adoption Day song with pictures of Sophia. Then we celebrated the finalization of her adoption on this special Lord's Day in the evening with a party on the patio at our friends who have this great outdoor patio area they heat - we had brick oven pizza, salad, drinks and John makes this "to die for" white chocolate pear tart/pie with chocolate drizzle.....hmmm. The kiddos made smores in the brick oven - should have taken more pictures but the evening was relaxing and fun with 68 of our close friends and family that could make

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Thursday, February 12, 2009

I met some co-workers from Iowa at a recent work training meeting in KS City who reminded me about this story I’d shared with them the last time we’d been together and they commented that they still talk about it as a great story – so I thought I’d share it with you.

This is my wallpaper steamer story.

Back in the days of b.c. (before children) we lived in an old 1938 house that was our “first home” purchase and a labor of love in re-doing things. One of my earlier jobs I tackled was to remove 3 – 4 layers of wallpaper from the upstairs hallway. I started with a putty knife and quickly decided I should rent a wallpaper steamer and get it done quicker. So I headed on down to the nearest larger town that had a place called “Regehr Rental” to rent a wallpaper steamer. When I arrived, I told them what I needed and a lady showed it to me and how it worked. We went to the counter to fill out the necessary paperwork. The lady asked me a million questions like date of birth, address, phone, she needed my drivers license number (like I was going to drive the steamer?), my social security number, place of employment, etc. When I felt like I’d completed enough information to rent a forklift – she then asked me for my husband’s information. I said I believed she had enough information. She said she’d need his information as well and I declared I didn’t have a husband.

OK - this is where my brain is crying out to me “You idiot! You have a wedding ring on!” But I didn’t care because I was NOT going to give her more information because I knew if my husband rented it – she wouldn’t ask him for MY information. I’m not a “stand up for your women’s rights” kind of woman – but I have my limits and I felt I was being profiled unfairly.

So, I proceeded to write out a check for the payment of the rental and she looks at my check and sees my husband’s name on it and his DL on the check too so she asks me “Is this yourhusband’s information?” With a deer in the headlights look I quickly responded, “he is recentlydeceased.” That poor lady apologized over and over and over. I almost told her it was to remove the wallpaper with the blood on it that I needed the steamer for, but held back from digging myself in deeper. She said, “They make me ask all these questions you know.” Like it justified the unfairness of the situation.

So I go home with my steamer, happy I didn’t have to divulge any more information to them about my dear husband whom I just killed off at the rental place. Deep guilt from lying took over me and I confessed to my husband that I declared him dead to the rental people. He actually laughed… and when we returned it he offered to help me inside with it and I told him to keep his butt in the car - he said he could pretend to be my boyfriend… I said “I’m happy with you as my husband – but stay here!”

Sunday, February 8, 2009

My oldest brother Jim had another brain surgery in mid January (first was in August when it was found) and he’ll turn 49 this week. The surgery was to remove as much of an aggressive cancer as possible. Living 1,000 miles from him has been hard at this time and I especially felt the distance this past week.

Thursday, the town he lives in did a wonderful thing – the city donated ice time and refs, people made& donated food, hockey players got sponsors to shave their heads and the entrance fee was free will donation for Manitoba Cancer Care. The raised just under $25,000 in one evening. Jim got to drop the puck for the game beginning – they wheeled him out there in his wheel chair. The crowd roared and brought my sis-in-law to tears. Was very moving……..I missed it all but have lived vicariously through family phone calls and emails and pictures. They gave him a jersey with a number "1" on it and his last name on the back as well as took a team picture with him. Last year before the cancer, Jim would play hockey like three nights a week at least! I’ll share some pictures with you. You can read Jim’s story and journey of faith at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jimschapansky and even though you don’t know him – if you have kind words of encouragement – he is uplifted by them and the many people everywhere are praying for him and his family during this hard battle in the world of cancer so I invite you to pray for a miracle as well.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Dee at One Foot Out of the Box gave me this blog award. I'm touched and honored. Thanks Dee - you are such an inspiration to me and I appreciate the friendship we've grown through "blog land."

Here is the discription of the award guideline and to pass it on.... "The citation" reads: These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prize or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!.There is an instruction that comes with this award. Deliver this award to 8 bloggers who must choose 8 more. Include this text in the body of the blog.

I am passing my award on to the following blogs I follow and that encourage me....

Kids in bed – a little blogging, a little Facebook, a little movie with hubby, a little snuggle….ok you don’t need to know the rest!

Sigh – life is good! I’m “upright” in heart!Psalm 32:11 (New International Version)Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!Sophia is "upright" in her basket of books!

OK – I’ll be the first to admit when he started kindergarten – I loved these musicals and was amazed at the coordination of songs, outfits and so forth…..but he is in 6th grade and tonight I celebrated and mourned the END of grade school musicals for Anthony. His teacher has “issues” and always about two weeks before the thing – she freaks out on the children – the normal crying in front of them and usually a lot of yelling, as well as this year she told them she’d fail her stress test because of them! For you who home school kiddos – yes, this will affirm what you do! You’ll ask – “why is she still there?” Lord knows I’ve asked that….have you heard of “tenure?” I’ve a good friend who told me when I was still under the “musical” spell that by the end of grade school I’d be relieved they’d be over, at the time I thought “what?”…..but man, was she right!Then tonight – I found myself lured into the enjoyment and will acknowledge that many people, parents especially, helped to make this thing a success once again…..and when I watched my stressed out child sing – I am grateful we live in a school district that can actually pull something like this fun musical off….so I’ve a split personality when it comes to these musicals and actually found myself enjoying it and clapping with enthusiasm despite the rocky ride to the event. It messes with my brain!So – this is my ODE TO MUSICALS are done with for one son, the other son has to make it two more years…..then I’ll pray she retires before Soph even graces the school steps.And this Mom says a big “AMEN.”

Sunday, February 1, 2009

OK - we had a family get-away to The Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City and Ohhh what a wonderful time we had of fun to celebrate Sophia being adopted amongst other things! They even had "Starbucks" coffee for my hubby, the Kid's Cabin was a huge hit with the boys. My "hot tub soaking zone" was ironically called Manitoba Tubs given I grew up in Manitoba! So as you can see - we had a great time and for a weekend get-a-way - this is THEE place for kiddos!

About Me

I'm an old soul in a middle aged body. I love sentimental things. A Canadian at heart living in small town USA.
This is our family life of soap, water, dirt and rocks in the washer! God leads us to the washline after cleansing our souls through the trials of stains, giving us that fresh air smell we can only receive by hanging it out there on the wash line of life!
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